Liquid feed control, particularly for the ink feed of printing presses



Jan. 25, 1949. c. s. CRAFTS 2,459,922

LIQUID FEED CONTROL, PARTICULARLY FOR THE INK FEED OF PRINTING PRESSES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 27, 1946 Jan. 25, 1949. c. s. CRAFTS 2,459,922

LIQUID FEED CONTROL, PARTICULARLY FOR THE INK FEED OF PRINTING PRESSES i 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 27, 1946 V W55 f/f ,//f mw j] i,

Jan. 25, 1949. C. s. CAFTS 2,459,922

LIQUID FEED CONTROL, PARTICULARLY FOR THE INK FEED OF PRINTIfNG PRESSES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Deo. 27, 1946 Patented Jan. 25, 1949 LIQUID FOR THEv PRESSES Curtis S..A Crafts;

Printing, Press Company,

Illinois Application December r2 claims. (ci. 10i- 351)y This inventionr relates to a liquid feed control, particularly to an ink` feed control for printing presses.A

In large high, speed printing presses; particu vlarly multi-color pressent it is quitegcommon to,

' have. the inking mechanism for a Vplate cylinder,VV particularly where there ris a multiplezinkfing' arrangement, mounted on a carriage movable to. ward andl away fromtheplate cylinders, asso-A ciated with a main or impression cylinder. In order to avoid imperfect printing, such presses. usually incorporate means for automatically moving the carriage, back awayfrom the plate cylinder, or the platecylinders away' fromu the; impressioni cylinder, when the` press is operating at a speed below the designed operating speed', as. dur-- ing acceleration and deceleration. While the carriage'mayr also be manually unlocked and moved much furtherl away vvhen desired for cleaning and re-inlsing theinking rolls,` changing rolls, and the like, itis this automatic movement, usually in the. neighborhood of twoor two.- and one-half inches, with which I am particularly concerned here. Sincethis is conventional inthe art it is feltunnecessary to go intol the details of mechanism therefor. A r

While this automatic., movement of. the ink carriage away from the plate cylinder has been ad-4 vantageousin preventing inking the web during. acceleration and deceleration of the press, it has proved objectionable in that. heretofore` thev dis tributing rolls have loaded up tooheavily with ink during the period of operation. in which. theparts were stilllcontinuingto.- move,ybut the carriage was withdrawn from operative relationwith the cylinder.

I have devised and am here disclosing and; claiming an arrangement for retaining. al1 the advantages ofv this automatic carriage movement while at the same time obviating disadvantages previously resulting therefrom.y In alarge print-- ing press of this type it is.v conventional. to.y transfer ink. from the fountainroll.I todistributing rolls` by a ductor roll which reciprocates in av path. transverse of. its. axis to intermittently make conf@V tactv first with the fountain roll. and then with the distributing. roll. to transfer Vinls thereto,

I havey devised an arrangement operative upon.. the ductor ro11.mounting,.in a fully automatic manner., to move the. ductor. roll', away from the. fountain roll and lock itagainst return thereto, during, periods, whenr ther inking carriage is with: drawn from printing .postion. thus. preventing, loading up of the distributing, rolls during. ac.-

Vccl'e'ration and deceleration periods. nadditiom sournois, i'Alvrnzsunmmvv FEED or PRINTING Oak. Park, Ill. assigner to Goss a corporation. of?

27, 194s-, serial No. 213,684

` position, when.

three plate cylinders-v I have incorporated inthe arrangementr means` wherebyvthe ductor roll moving mechanism mayhe caused to operate, regardless of the carriage this may be desirable, as in reink ing-y a given set of.. rolls` after they have been cleaned, or the like. My present invention thus automatically prevents inkfeed tothe distributing rolls and loading up of ink thereon during periods when the carriage is in inoperative position, while at the same timey permitting a given ink freed mechanism to 'be rendered operative when. the. other mechanisms are inoperative, or vice versa, as there may be times when the carriage is, in printing position that it may be preferable to have a given ink feed mechanism inoperative.A

The. various features, andI4 advantages of this.. invention. will be apparent from the specification and drawings, in which;

Figurev 1 is afragmentary side. elevational viewof a printing press embodying my invention; Fig-- ure Zisan enlarged fragmentary side elevational View., partially broken; away, of a. portionof the apparatus shownl Figure 1; Figure 3 is a par.- tiallytransverse view along the line 3-3 of. Fig,- ure 2; Figure 4. is a vertical sectional View, still further enlarged, of. a shown in. Figure 2; and` Figure 5vis a diagram of the control circuitfor automatic. actuating of. the, power operated means-eect'ing the ink feed control.

In the. particular embodiment,l of myV invention illustrated herewith,l a multi-color press is shown ashaving a main or impression cylinder it with- Hl,A t2 and I3 associated; therewith, each having an associated inking arrangement,.itbeing understood that the plate cylinders and their inking means. may be of any number. desired,V three beingillustrated'r mer/elyA as. representative.. Since; the. general` principles and operation ofiy such. pressesV are lso well known, andsince. the plate cylinders andftheir associated inking arrangements are duplicates, only the lowermost inking arrangement. illustrated in Figure 1,* that associated with the plate cylinder i3, will be described. in detail..

Referring now more particularly to this one inking arrangement, it will' be seen. to comprise a fountain roll l5l associated. with an ink fountain I6, (best seen in Figure 2'). A ductor roll il.' i-Slso mounted as to be oscillable or reciprocal, transversely oi its axis, between a` left hand position (speaking with respect. to the. apparatus as viewed in the drawings) where it contacts thev fountain; roll i5' to a right hand position where it contactsL` portion of the apparatus' 3 the rollV l 8a ofthe group of rolls having distri-buting and transfer functions and hereinafter termed the distributing rolls, these being identiiied as maf-48g, the rolls IBn-Iq being in engagement with plate I 3 to deliver ink thereto, Some of these rolls may, in conventional manner, be movable axially as well as being rotatable. All of the inking mechanisms are mounted on an inking carriage here identified in general as 20,.

this being horizontally movableV on appropriate rails on the bed 2| of the press.

Referring now more particularly to Figuresr2 and 3, it will be seen that the ductor roll l1 is carried on a mounting frame 23 pivotally mount- A ed on the shaft 24 and having near its lower end a cam follower or cam roller 25 adapted to be held in engagement with the surface of a cam 26 rigidly mounted on the rotatable shaft 21 ing relationship,

driven by the main press drive. Rotation of the 'v cam 26, in cooperation with the force of the spring 28 tending to pull the ductor roll I1 toward the fountain roll Vi 5, causes the desired reciprocal movement of the ductor roll back and forth between the fountain roll and the distributing roll 18a, in the absenceof any means forV preventing this action.

In order to prevent thisrmovement of the ductor roll, and thus to prevent further ink feed, I provide power operated means for forcing the ductor roll carriage to and locking it in the position shown in Figure2, this comprising the camming lever 30 pivotal about the Ystud 3 l' and means for automatically effecting movement of this lever. The camming lever is shown in Figure 2 in its feed preventing position, and it is adapted to be rotated clockwise about its pivot point (as viewed in the drawing) through an angle of about 60 to an inoperative position where it causes no interference with reciprocation of the ductor roll carriage 23 through the cam drive action therefor.

Movement of the camming lever 30 is effected by a conventional double acting air motor 33 having its piston rod 34 connected to the lower end of the camming lever 30. Air is admitted to either side of the piston 35 under the control of a valve member 36 movable in best seen in Figure 4. Air under pressure is supplied to the valve box 31 through a pipe 38 connecting to a compressed airline 39, and air is adapted to be exhausted from either side of the valve member 36 when the solenoid exhaustV valves and 4l are opened electrically, through operation of the control circuit to be hereafter described. The air motor, valve boxtherefor, and solenoid valves are all conventional articles purchased on the open market, and their construction will, therefore, not be described in detail. The parts are shown in Figure 4 in position resulting from the solenoid valve 4I being open, the valve member 36 being to the right-hand limit of its movement and air under pressure being delivered through the pipe 33a, air beingexhausted through the pipe 33h and the exhaust opening 31a inthe valve box, When the solenoid 'valve'V I is closed, on the other hand, and the valve 40 opened, both the valve member 36 and the motor piston 35 k would move to the left,V resulting in swinging of the ink feed control lever 30 to an inoperative position where it permits ink feed to take place.

Because of the relationship of the upper end of the camming lever 3D and the portion of the ductor roll frame 23 with which it cooperates, the lever is not merely capable of latching or locking a valve box 31, as may be the solenoid valves.

'with particulary reference to Figure 5. While the the ductor roll away from contact with the fountain roll l5, but is also capable of camming or forcing the ductor roll away from the fountain roll, against the force of the spring 28, if the air motor is actuated to ink feed preventing position when the ductor roll happens-to be Vin* contact with the fountain roll.

In order to eiiect automatic operation of the ink feed control means in all of the ink feeding arrangements, and at the same time permit a difference in the relationship or one ink feed control with respect to the others when desired, I provide a switchingarrangement for controlling This will now be described,

mechanical parts are shown in Figure l in Vprintso that their interaction may be better understood, the views of Figures 2 to 5 are shown Vwhen ink feed is blocked, as when the ink carriage 2l) has been moved to the left (speaking with respect to Figure 1). Referring to Figure 5, thesolenoids 40 and 4| are those of the valves shown fully in Figure 4; and other similar solenoids 5U and 5l and 60 and 6| are associated with the control valves for the air motors of the other two ink feeding arrangements in the particular three color press arrangements illustrated as representative. A limit switch 43, which may be a single pole double throw switch-as illustrated in Figure 5, is preferably of the type having its movable member spring pressed to one contacting position and adapted to be urged to the other contacting position (shown in dotted lines in VFigure 5) when the inking carriage is in operative or f printing position. Each pair of solenoid valves has associated therewith a manually controllable switch, as the switch 44 of the double pole double throw type. Thisswitch may have movable contact members 44al and 44h mechanically connected together and 'adapted to be moved from one contacting position Vto the other by any appropriate means, as by pushing on the buttons 44e and 44d (see Figure 2). The other inking arrangements have similarly manual controllable switches indicated in general as 54 and 64. When all of the switches just mentioned are `in the position for Asimilar automatic operation (as illustrated in Figure 5), movement of the inking carriage away from theplates causesY the switch 43 to assume the position shown in solid lines, thus energizing the solenoid valves 4l, 5l and 6| from any Vconventional sourceY of power supplied by the lines 45 and 46, this resulting in all of the ductor rollsV being Ymaintained away from their associated fountain rolls,-so that ink feed is prevented, On the other hand, with the switches 44, 54 and 64 in the same position, movement of the inking carriage' to printing position (when the press is up to operatingfspeed) moves the limit switch 43 to the position shown in Figure 1 (the dotted line position in Figure 5),.resulting in energization of the ysolenoid valves 4 0; 50 and 60 and movement of the ink .feed control means to inoperativeV position where ink Afeed'V may take place through the'normal reciprocating voperation of the ductor rolls. On the other hand, ifV it is desiredk to have any ments operating when the inking carriage is back away from the plates' (or anyone of the inking arrangements inoperative when the inking carriage is in printing position), it is only necessary to reverse the setting of the manual control switch for this particular'inking arrangement, as `by pushing Vthe, buttons 44d and 44a to their dotted line positions. This results in the vreverse eneroneV vof the inking arrange-V power operated apparatus being movable between a rst position VWhere it prevents said` delivery device from delivering ink to said distributing apparatus and a second position Vwhere it permits said delivery device 'to deliver ink to said distributing apparatus; electrical control apparatus including a plurality of solenoid-operated valves for effecting movement of said first mentioned control apparatus by and in accordance with movement of said carriage; and switch apparatus for reversing the position of a selected one of said control apparatuses with respect to the other control apparatus.

9. In a printing press having an ink feed carriage movable to and from printing position and a transfer cylinder for transferring ink to a web: an ink supply source on said carriage; distributing apparatus on :said carriage for distributing ink uniformly onsaid transfer cylinder; a reciprocably movable ductor roll for delivering ink from said source to said distributing apparatus; and electrical apparatus for automatically moving said roll away from said source when said carriage moves from printing position.

10. In a printing press having an ink feed carriage movable to and from printing position and a transfer cylinder for transferring ink to a web: a plurality of feed arrangements on said carriage, each arrangement including an ink supply source, at least one distributing roll for distributing ink uniformly on said transfer cylinder, a ductor roll reciprocably movable independently of said carriage for delivering ink from said source to said distributing roll, and power operated control apparatus for controlling operation of said ductor roll, said power operated apparatus being movable between a iirst position Where it prevents said ductor roll from delivering ink to said distributing roll by moving said ductor roll away from said source and locking it against return thereto, and a second position Where it permits said ductor roll to deliver ink to said distributing roll; electrical control apparatus for eiecting movement of said iirst mentioned control apparatus by and in accordance'with movement of said carriage; and switch apparatus for reversing the position of a selected one of said control apparatuses with respectto the other control apparatus.

11'. In a printing press having an ink feed carriage movable to and from printing position and a' transfer cylinder for transferring ink to a web: an ink supply source on said carriage; distributing apparatus on said carriage for distributingink uniformly on said transfer cylinder; a' device movable independently of said carriage for delivering ink from said source to said distributing apparatusydelivery control apparatus for controlling operation of saiddeliverydevlce, saidrcontrol apparatus being movable between a rst position where it prevents said delivery device from delivering ink to said distributing apparatus and a second position where it permits said delivery device to deliver ink to said distrib- Y uting apparatus; a switch automatically moved control apparatus in accordance with by and in accordance with movement of the `carriage; mechanism whereby movement of said switch eiects movement of said delivery control apparatus; and a second switch for reversing the relationship between the position of said delivery control apparatus and therposition of the iirst switch. Y i

12. In a printing press having an ink feed carriage movable to and from'printing position and a transfer cylinder for transferring ink to a web: a plurality of feed arrangements on said carriage, each arrangement including an ink supply source, at least one distributing roll for distributing ink uniformly on said transfer cylinder, a device movable independently of said carriage for delivering ink from said source'to said distributing "apparatus, and power operated delivery control apparatus for controlling operation of said de livery device, said power operated apparatus being movable between a rst position where it prevents said delivery device from delivering ink to said distributing apparatus and a second position where it permits said delivery device to deliver ink to said distributing apparatus; electrical apparatus for effecting movement of all of said movement of said carriage, this electrical apparatus including a single pole double throw switch operated by movement of said carriage and having control circuit connections with each of said delivery control Vmeans; and a double pole double throw switch in each of said connections for reversing the position of a selectedone of said control apparatuses with respect to the other control apparatus.

CURTIS S. CRAFTS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Y nie of this patent: 

